Just following up on a previous entry, here's an interesting post by Vince about the reaction of feminists in the country to something the new pope last year regarding the role of women in the Church, a pastoral letter that was widely criticized for promoting narrow-minded thinking for Catholics regarding issues vital to women.

The Cardinal wrote of feminism that “strengthens the idea that the liberation of women entails criticism of Sacred Scripture, which would be seen as handling on a patriarchal conception of God nourished by an essentially male-dominated culture. Second, this tendency would consider as lacking in importance and relevance the fact that the Son of God assumed human nature in its male form.”

This is the most startling part of his letter to the Catholic bishops. Feminists criticize not Scripture, but some of its patriarchal interpretations that exclude women from the promise of fully human life in our male-dominated societies.

...no feminist debates the fact the Jesus was born a man. Instead, we Catholic feminists cherish Jesus Christ as a feminist man and a sign of the feminine principle in God.

ang lokohan nga namin sa opisina, lahat ng bakla, lesbiyana at peminista eh magtatago na. inquisition part 2 na itoh! hehe. hopefully not. but ratzinger is said to be more concerned less with quantity and more with "quality". a smaller church, as long as it can remain true to its ideals. unfortunately, which ideals will the church cling to? no women priests? disgust over alternative lifestyles? homophobia? celibacy for priests? ack. disheartening to think of. sana hindi. but ratzinger the ideologue cannot be expected to tread a different path just because he assumed a new role. remember, this guy has been in charge of the vatican's doctinal work since the 80s.